Tayshaun Prince has never put on an NBA jersey that did not say Pistons across the front. Some guys you can picture in another jersey easily — try to think of one Shaq hasn’t tried on — but some guys seem rooted. Thinking of Prince in another color uniform with another name across the front just seems weird. Like something out of a Tim Burton movie weird.

But he is an $11.1 million expiring contract on a team that needs to rebuild, and is a guy with plenty of game left — anyone not need a good wing defender? — so he is going to pop up in trade rumors.

“It would be something I’d definitely look at,” Prince said after the Pistons’ 115-109 overtime win against Indiana on Wednesday at The Palace. “Who wouldn’t want be in that situation, to have an opportunity to play for another championship?”

“I’m not in the situation that Rip (Richard Hamilton) is in, or obviously some of the other guys in the league. I think I’ll be here for the rest of the year.”

The Pistons ownership situation — negotiations with Tom Gores to buy the team are supposed to be near complete — may play a factor in Prince not being traded. The Pistons are not looking to take on a lot more long-term salary, so if Prince is moved it would be for picks and young players and another expiring deal. And with uncertainty over the new Collective Bargaining Agreement yet to be hammered out, nobody is really giving those picks and young players.

If the Pistons hold on to him, then he comes off the books and they save a lot of money next season. That may be what happens.

It would make Prince a free agent this summer. And next season he would be wearing new colors on the jersey with a new name across the front. And that still just seems weird.

Anyone who watched the Thunder’s win over the Raptors Sunday afternoon in Toronto — especially the final few minutes — thought it was not referee Marc Davis and crew’s finest hour. There were missed calls and three-straight ejections of Raptors players, which all seemed rather hair-trigger (especially coach Dwane Casey, who was tossed for something a fan behind him said).

According to the report, there was only one missed call in the final two minutes: Carmelo Anthony held Pascal Siakam as a pass came to him with 11.7 seconds left, and that should have been called.

What about the play that set DeMar DeRozan off and ultimately got him ejected, the drive to the basket with 33 seconds left (and the Raptors down two) where DeRozan thought Corey Brewer fouled him? The report said that was a good no call:

DeRozan (TOR) starts his drive and Brewer (OKC) moves laterally in his path and there is contact. The contact is incidental as both players attempt to perform normal basketball moves….

RHH shows Brewer (OKC) make contact with the ball and the part of DeRozan’s (TOR) hand that is on the ball. The hand is considered “part of the ball” when it is in contact with the ball and therefore, contact on that part of the hand by a defender while it is in contact with the ball is not illegal.

(I didn’t see it that way, I think the contact was more than incidental, and to me looking at the replay Brewer catches some wrist and impedes the shot in a way that was not legal. Just my two cents.)

The report does not cover the ejections, which are reviewed by league operations but not part of this report.

Three thoughts out of all this:

1) Raptors fans/management/players have every right to feel the calls went against them in this game. As for calls always going against them — as DeRozan complained about after the game — 29 other teams and fan bases are convinced the officials have it out for them, too. I never bought that.

2) The Raptors didn’t lose this game solely because of the officiating. Russell Westbrook was clutch down the stretch, the Thunder were part of it, and the Raptors had other issues, too (Serge Ibaka had a rough game, for example).

3) This loss also does not say a thing about the Raptors in the postseason (even if they went a little too much isolation at the end) — this was their third game in four days, they looked tired and flat at the end. That will not be the case in the playoffs.

Butler is chomping at the bit to return from his knee injury. He sat on the Timberwolves’ bench during their loss to the Rockets last night wearing what appeared to be typical attire for a sidelined player. But dig deeper, and…

Marc Stein of The New York Times:

There's only one @JimmyButler (Exhibit Infinity): Butler sat on the Wolves' bench last night for the first time since his recent injury and word is he wore a distinctly Jimmy item under his blazer and t-shirt … his game jersey

Cleveland needs Love back. The Cavaliers went 11-9 without him in this stretch (and 6-7 since the All-Star break) with an offense that has still been top 10 in the NBA but a defense that is holding them back. The Cavaliers’ defense is just not on the same page right now, and the more time the regular rotations guys get to play together, the better they should be before the playoffs start.

As Love rounds into form, the Cavaliers have to figure out their rotations. Does Love start Love next to Larry Nance Jr., or does Nance come off the bench again? Probably the latter, but the Cavaliers will toy with the rotations (and do that more when Tristan Thompson returns).